Can feeding device



July 16, 1935. r

R. E. J. NORDQUIST CAN FEEDING DEVICE Filed June 23, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheetl INVENT R ATTORNEYS Jul); 6,1935. R. E. J. NCRDQUIST 2,007,981

CAN FEEDING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 23., 1933 Patented July16, 1935 PATENT-OFFICE CAN FEEDING DEVICE Ronald E. J. Nordquist,

signor to American Gan Company,

N. Y., a corporation of Maplewood, N. 3., as New Iorlr,

New Jersey Application June 23, 1933, Serial No. time: 1 Claims. (01.lea-22;)

- The present invention relates to can feeding devices for acceleratingthe travel of cans and the like, such as are filled with or have aliquid content so that a greater speed of travel or a greaterflspacingis obtained between cans with out spilling their contents, and theinvention has as the principal object the simplification and the moreaccurate manipulation of such feeding devices.

The invention. contemplates the use 01' three movements or controls forcan propelling levers .by means of which the levers are bodily carriedin a general circular path of travel, are moved in and out and are alsorocked back and forth to effect an accurate control of the travel of thecans being propelled by the levers. v

The inventionhas for a further object the provision of simplified canpropelling members which engage a can, filled with a liquid or contentlike-- ly to be spilled, without sudden jar or shaking of the can andwhich then gently sweep the can over a path of travel while graduallyaccelerating its movement or increasing the intervals between adjacentcans engaged byadja'cent lever devices to the end that the transpositionfrom a relatively slow rate of travel into the higher speed will takeplace in a smooth, uninterrupted and accurately controlled manner.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings,-discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view, partially broken away. of a' can feeding deviceembodying the present invention, this .view illustrating the transfer ofcans from a turret member having closely spaced pockets into one havingpockets spaced consid-' erably further apart, which requires a greatercan travel a Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewv taken substantiallyalong the'broken line in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3-is a perspective view of one of the can I propelling levers withits associated mounting;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail taken substantially along the line M inFig. l and v I Fig-5 is a plan sectional view taken substantial-'- lyalong the broken line 5--5 in Fig. 2.

Movable andstationary parts of the apparatus are carried in a housing2!! (Figs. 2 and 5) which is mounted upon or formed with a base 22. Thehousing M is closed at its upper end by a table section 23.

This table may be a part of other machines which deliver cans into andreceive cans from the feeding devices and is here shown as supporting aturretmember 25 (Fig. 1) having can receivlngpockets 25 which arerelatively close together, this turret member being mounted 5 upon andturned by a vertical shaft ii in any suitable manner. Such turret memberillustrates by way oi example the delivering of cans 23 to the feedingdevices.

c The cans 28 coming from the member 25 are closely spaced and thefeeding devices herein considered advance these cans 28 while separatingthem and at the Same time accelerate their travel without interruptingor in any way shaking or jolting the cans, such non-spilling i'eal5 turebeing particularly desirable where they are substantially filled withliquid or other spillabie material.

In Fig. i there is also disclosed by way of example a can receivingturret member 3: which is here shown as being supported upon the table23 at its other end, this turret being formed with can pockets 32 whichare spaced a considerable distance between adjacent pockets. This turretmember 3i may be, mounted upon and rotated 35 by a vertical shaft 33 inany suitable manner.

A track or runway between the members 25,

ll is'provided as a path for the cans being conveyed by the feedingdevices and in the embodiment disclosed in the drawings this pathway isw Q 'formed by a horizontal plate (Figs. 1 and 2) which rests upon araised extension of the table 28. This plate has generally the form oi awidely spread letter v and extends from a position beneaththe turretpockets 26 of the 35 member 25 to aposition beneath the turret pocket 32of the member it A guide rail 36 is-preferably mounted upon the plate 3tadjacent the turret member It and its inner edge cooperates with theturret pockets 28 to hold the cans within the turret as t latter rotateswith its shaft 2?, as illustrated on the right hand side of Fig. l.

A curved guide rail 31! is also carried by the plate 35 and its inneredge cooperates with the peripheral edge of a $5 stationary member 39which is a part of the can feeding device proper.

As best illustrated in Fig. 2 this plate 39 is mounted upon the upperend of a central post ill which is formed with a base it mounted uponthe frame base zt'and secured in fixed position by bolts 63. Theperiphery one side and the spaced inner edge of the guide rail 37 is ofsuch shape as to direct the cans fill from the turret'member 25 in apath of travel M of the plate 89 along have delivered these cans at thegreater rate of travel and at the greater spacing.

The feeding devices proper are carried in a spider 5| (Figs. 1 and 2)which surrounds the post 8| and revolves about it. This spiderlis boltedto the circular head 52 of sleeve 53 which is rotatably mounted on thestationary post. The spider 5| and parts carried thereby are supportedupon the table 23 and upon the stationary post, the head .52 bearingupon a circular boss 55 formed in and projecting upwardly from the tableand the lower end of the sleeve 53 resting upon a shoulder 56 formed inthe base 42 of the post.

,The spider 5| is continually rotated during the operation of theapparatus and for this purpose the lower end of the sleeve 53 isprovided with a ring worm gear 51 which is keyed to the sleeve and whichmeshes with and receives rotation from a worm 58 secured to a driveshaft 59. The drive shaft 59 is journaled in any suitable manner as in abearing 6| formed in a bracket 62 projecting upwardly and formed as anintegral part of the base 82 of the stationary post. and may also bejournaled in otherbearings not shown. This drive shaft 59 may be rotatedin any suitable manner toreffect rotation of the sleeve58 and the spider5|.

The spider 5|,is formed with a plurality of radial slots '65 (Figs. 1, 2and -.4) and slide blocks 88 are carried in these slots. Top. protectingplates 61 are mounted upon the upper surface of the spider 5| and aresecured in fixed position by screws 68 so that their side edges extendover the edges of the slots in the spider. This prevents verticaldisplacement of the slide blocks 86 within the spider and allows forunrestricted radial movement.

Each slide block 66 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) is formed with an upper boss 1|and a lower boss 2 which are in direct alignment with one anothe and avertical bore "passes entirely through the upper and lower bosses of theslide block. A can propelling lever'll, illustrated as an angle lever,is carried in each block 66, being formed with a 1 depending stem 15which is loosely positioned in the bore 18. The weight ofthe lever issupported on the top of the upper boss-1|. Each lever 14 .isformed withtwo arms,- one having an upwardly extending can engaging finger 16, the

other being a cam roller arm 11. The arm 11 carries a pin 18 on whichcam roller 13 is rotatably mounted. A cam grove 8| 2 (Figs. 1 and 2) isformed in a depending cam ridge 82 projecting downwardly from the undersurface of the plate 88 and the roller 19 of each lever 18operates'wlthin the cam groove asthe spider 5| carries'it and its slideblock 86 around with it. The stem 15 of the lever 14 projects below thelower end of the boss .12 where it carries a cam As the slide blocks 88arecarried around by the spiderj'l, as previously described, each camroller 85 itraverses a cam groove 86 formed ina cam ring 81. This camring is formed with a circular flange 88 that rests upon and is boltedto the table 23.

By means of the spider and cam controls of the levers 14 their canengaging fingers 16 are .mountings, as the case may be, to cooperatewith brought into engagement with and behind the cans 28 while they arestill within the turret pockets 26 of the member 25 and as the spider 5|continues its rotation the cam 81 working through the rollers 85 on thepivotal centers of the levers, slide the blocks 66 of the levers withintheir radial slots 65. At thesame time the cam" groove 8| operating uponthe cam rollers 19 of the levers 14 holds or oscillates them on theirpivotal the slide block position so that the fingers 16 re: main againstthe walls of the cans until the'latter are delivered with the resultingaccelerated speed of travel into the pockets 82 of the turret member 3|.

This combination of controls of the pivotal part of the lever and therocking of the lever effects the desired movement of the engagingfingers 16 of the levers sothat as soon as a turret pocket 26 releases acan 28 the engaged lever finger 16 picks up and gradually accelerates itas it moves between the guide rail 81 and the peripheral edge of themovement is of. such a nature as to uniformly increase the speed oftravel of the can without permitting any spilling of the liquid contentsand this increasing acceleration also spaces adiacent cans further apa"t so that they are brought into proper spaced position and properlydelivered within the pockets 32 of the turret member 8| without anyspill of the can contents.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

1 claim: r

1. In a can feeding and can accelerating device, the combination of arotatable spider, slide blocks carried by said spider and having radialmovement therein, can propelling levers said slide blocks and havingpivotal movement thereomand fixed cam means for rocking said levers ontheir pivots during the rotation of said spider to advance the canspropelled thereby at w an accelerated speed of travel.

2. In a can feeding and can accelerating device, the combination of arotatable spider, slide blocks carried by said spider and having radialmovement therein, can propelling levers carried by said slide blocks andhavinsthereon, and nxedcam' means for moving said slide blocks away fromthe center of said spider during itsrotation. to advance the canspropelled by said levers it an accelerated spcedof travel, and means forpivots to still further accelerate the speed of travel of the cans. I v

3.Inacanfeedinga-ndcanaccclcrating(icvice, the combination of arotatable spider, slide blocks carried by me spider and havingradialplate 88. This advance carried by ivotal movement 5swinginssaidleversontheir combination of a rotatable spider, slideblocks carried by said spider and having independent movement relativeto the said spider rotation, levers pivotally mounted on said slideblocks and having can engaging and propelling arms, and cam means forshifting said slide blocks and other cam means for rocking said leversto carry said can propelling arms in a continuous path of travel touniformly accelerate the cans engaged thereby.

5. In a can feeding device for delivering cans from a member havingclose spaced pockets to a second member having wider spaced can pockets,the combination of a rotatable spider having radial slots, slide -blockscarried-by said spider and located in said radial slots, a canpropelling lever pivotally carried on each slide block,'cam means formoving said slide blocks within said slots, and other cam means forrocking said levers on their pivots, said cam means acting together toseparate adjacent cans for proper spacing into the wider spaced canpockets of said second member.

6. In a can feeding device, the combination of a rotatable spider, slideblocks carriedby said spider and having independent radial movementtherewith, levers pivotally mounted on said slide blocks and having canengaging and propelling arms and. cam' roller arms, cam rollers carriedon the pivotal centers of said levers, other cam rollers carried on saidcam roller arms, and stationary actuating cams located below' and abovesaid spider for respectively engaging said pivotal cam rollers and saidlever arm cam rollers for shifting said slide blocks and rocking saidlevers to carry said can propelling arms in a continuous pathof travelto uniformly accelerate the cans engaged thereby.

7. The combination of a candelivering turret,

a can receiving turret,'means or guiding the cans from the deliveringtothe receiving turret along a suitable path, and means for acceleratingthe movement of the cans in said path, comprising swinging angle levershaving fulcrums and arms to engage said cans'and laterally extendingroller arms, means for moving the fulcrums of said levers bodilyradially relative to said path, rollers on said roller arms, and a fixedcam having means to control said rollers, which means is partlyeccentric relative to said path.

RONALDE. J. NORDQUIST.

